Isn't It Romantic?

These woods are almost ready for skiing

Fire everybody, all 320 of them. Hire them back six months later. See some move on and replace them with new people who have never done the job before, all of whom have to be trained to be the best at what they do. Implement a strategy to recruit employees for a job that pays poorly and is totally weather dependent - it’d be one thing to be weather dependent in San Diego, but Vermont?! Input everyone’s information into a byzantine computer system without which we’d be hopeless. Hone the enterprise’s message and communicate it to the world. Find a million little issues that need fixing, clean up the physical plant and make it shine, issue uniforms and passes to everyone. Stay true to who we are and what makes us special while keeping a close eye on our competition. Lose sleep, grind teeth, make a daily huge commute, lose fitness, pull hair out and turn grey. Somehow, some way, stay focused on why I do what I do, enough so that I can keep an entire staff inspired to bring passion and excitement to their jobs. Lean on my friends and family for support when I’m at my grumpiest and most downtrodden, find a persistent coach who reminds me to pursue my personal ambitions and can help me achieve them. And go skiing enough to let go and be in the moment despite being in the spotlight and under the gun 100% of the time. Ah yes, my job is so romantic. I do love it - genuinely, sarcasm aside, but how?

Yesterday, the Sugarbush Ski & Ride School held our annual fall orientation meeting. We gathered the staff in the Gatehouse lodge – a gorgeous edifice of a base lodge positioned to make the most of its location at the bottom of the natural bowl that is Lincoln Peak. After filling out reams of paperwork and drinking coffee, the staff paid attention through a range of presentations on hazardous materials, injury reporting, online payroll systems, financial results, operational projects, and company values, and amazingly they didn't lose their enthusiasm. We heard from a few execs from the resort who work hard to keep the staff focused on delivering their best for our guests, including our resort owner Win Smith, and we had a genuinely inspirational presentation about Flyin Ryans. And I spoke to the staff, poor devils, about what’s new, what’s exciting, and how important it is that we love it so much. No, “it” isn't the HAZMAT policy.

Then, in the afternoon, our supervisors and I sat with the new staff and actually talked about teaching people to ski and ride. We talked about how it makes them feel and, equally important, how it makes us feel. In this smaller group, I was able to look each of them in the eyes and welcome them to the profession, to the resort, or both, and to see in their faces their enthusiasm undaunted by the long day. Putting together the orientation was a lot of work for my supervisors and me and there was a fair amount of anxiety in doing so. Finishing the day with our new instructors made it all worthwhile. It’s not that they remembered why they were there yesterday, it’s that the reason they’re with us is live, present, and coursing through their veins every moment. They’re excited to begin the season, to learn a ton, to share a ton, to ski and ride a ton, and to have a blast doing all of the above. And, thanks to them, so am I.

Soon. Very soon. There’s snow on the summit already.